Gov. Tony Evers delivers his seventh State of the State address while standing in front of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate President Mary Felzkowski. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner

In his seventh State of the State address Wednesday night, Gov. Tony Evers started to outline his budget priorities — declaring 2025 the “Year of the Kid” and laying out investments and policies to support children and their families. 

The address came at the start of a legislative session in which Republicans continue to hold majorities in the state Senate and Assembly, though with smaller margins than last session, and a $4.5 billion budget surplus remains unspent. Wisconsin also has about $1.9 billion in the state’s rainy day fund. 

“We begin the new year with a new Legislature elected under new, fair maps,” Evers said in his address. “For the first time in a generation, this Legislature was not elected under some of the most gerrymandered maps in America. I am hopeful this will mean more collaboration, more partnership, a little less rancor and a renewed commitment to do right by the will of the people.”

Evers announced an array of proposals to support schools, including by providing free meals to students, expanding mental health resources, supporting child care for families and implementing better gun violence prevention measures.

Bipartisan collaboration will be necessary for Evers to accomplish the priorities he laid out, and the road could be difficult as Republican lawmakers were mostly critical following the address.

“What we heard tonight was Gov. Evers’ longest State of the State address and it was chock full of liberal wishes, empty promises and a whole lot of things that are not going to happen in Wisconsin,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) told reporters. 

“The things the governor talked about tonight, every single thing that he talked about, was a new government program, new government spending,” Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August (R-Walworth) said. “I really am at a loss for words at how ridiculous the things he talked about were tonight.”

Highlighting lower taxes

Before speaking about his proposals, Evers highlighted the state of taxation in Wisconsin, pointing to a recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report that found the local and state tax burden has fallen to the lowest level on record. 

“Just two decades ago, Wisconsin was in the top five states for our tax burden and the taxes Wisconsinites paid as a share of their income. Today, Wisconsin is in the bottom 16 states in the country,” Evers said. “We have seen the largest drop in our tax burden of any state over the last 20 years.”

Evers said tax cuts have been a bipartisan priority. He noted that he has proposed tax cuts in each of his budget proposals targeted at middle class Wisconsinites. He has also accepted some of the proposals that Republicans have sent him. Evers’ emphasis on  the state’s declining tax burden came as Republicans have said their top priority for the next state budget will be to further cut taxes. 

August accused Evers of taking credit for work that Republicans did — pointing out that Evers vetoed Republicans’ major tax proposals last session.

“[Evers] actually vetoed the biggest tax cut that has ever been proposed in the state of Wisconsin. He vetoed that,” Rep. Tyler August told reporters. “Everything that he took credit for tonight economically was because of legislative Republicans’ work over the last 20 years. He’s an educator, he should know you can’t take credit for somebody else’s work.” 

Evers pivoted from taxes to his vision for increasing spending and implementing new policies that would help children across the state.

“I will soon introduce our next state budget, laying out our state’s top policy priorities for the next two years. Every budget I have ever built began first by doing what is best for our kids, and this one will be no different,” Evers said. 

Proposals to support kids in school 

“If we want to improve our kids’ outcomes, then we have to shorten the odds,” Evers said. “If we want our educators and schools to be able to do their very best work in the hours our kids are with them, we have to set them up for success, and we have to start by making sure our kids can bring their full and best selves to our classrooms.” 

Evers said he would propose “historic investments in K-12 education” and “meaningful” investments in early childhood education, the University of Wisconsin system and the state’s technical colleges. 

Evers also called for lawmakers to release $50 million that was allocated in the last budget to support new literacy efforts in classrooms. Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee have withheld the money due to disagreements over exactly how the money should be spent, and if the money isn’t released before June 30, it will lapse back into the state’s general fund. 

“Our kids and their futures are too important for petty politics,” Evers said. “Republicans, release those investments so we can get to work improving reading outcomes statewide.” 

In addition, Evers said that he would propose ensuring that children have access to food and clean water by reintroducing his “Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids” plan, which would provide free lunch and breakfast in schools, as well as by seeking to address the issue of lead in water. 

“Making sure our kids are healthy — physically and mentally — is a crucial part of improving outcomes in our classrooms. But we have to connect the dots between school achievement and the challenges our kids are facing at home and in our communities,” Evers said. “Take lack of access to clean and safe drinking water, for example. There is no safe level of lead exposure for kids.” 

Evers is proposing that the state dedicate $154.8 million for his “Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids” initiative. The initiative, he said, would use the money to provide free breakfast and lunches to students as well as for other programs including modernizing “bubblers” in schools to remove harmful contaminants.

Evers called for urgency when it comes to addressing a mental health crisis among Wisconsin children. 

“The state of our kids’ mental health continues to be concerning for me, both as a governor and as a grandfather. A kid in crisis may be distracted or disengaged and may not be able to focus on their studies, if they are able to get to school at all,” Evers said. 

Evers noted that the 2023-25 state budget included $30 million for school-based mental health services, but it was “just a fraction of what I asked the Legislature to approve.” His renewed call for more mental health resources comes as children in Wisconsin have reported increasing levels of  anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts over the last decade, especially among girls, kids of color and LGBTQ youth.

Evers said he’ll propose dedicating almost $300 million to supporting mental health services in schools. This would include about $168 million for comprehensive school mental health services aid, $130 million to modify the existing aid for school mental health programs to provide 20% reimbursement for the costs of pupil services professionals, $500,000 for peer-to-peer suicide prevention programs and $760,000 to increase the amount and types of mental health trainings provided to schools. 

“Making sure our kids are healthy—physically and mentally—is a crucial part of improving outcomes in our classrooms. But we have to connect the dots between school achievement and the challenges our kids are facing at home and in our communities,” Evers said. 

Violence prevention — including for gun deaths

Highlighting the recent school shooting in Madison and the recent death by suicide of a former state lawmaker, Evers said  gun violence prevention will be another priority this year. 

“Thirty-seven days ago, a shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison took the lives of Erin and Rubi — a student and an educator — who woke up and went to school that morning and will never return home. Six others were injured, and countless lives will never be the same,” Evers said. 

Evers urged lawmakers to come together to work to prevent the next school shooting.

Specifically, Evers called for a law that would require background checks for any person seeking to purchase a gun, and implementing “red flag” laws in Wisconsin so “law enforcement and loved ones” have a way to remove guns from people who pose a risk to themselves or others.  

“We aren’t here in Madison to quibble about the semantics of the last shooting. We are here to do everything we can to prevent the next one,” Evers said. “We do not have to choose between respecting the Second Amendment or keeping kids, schools, streets and communities safe.” 

Evers said that he would also propose a $66 million investment to support services for crime victims statewide and help critical victim service providers, which would help address recent reductions in federal funding under the Victims of Crime Act. 

Evers also outlined proposals that would help address deaths by suicide, and spoke about the recent loss of Former Milwaukee Rep. Jonathan Brostoff, who died by suicide in November.  

“We are so deeply saddened that he is no longer with us,” Evers said before asking the room to recognize Brostoff’s wife and parents, who stood in the gallery looking over the lawmakers. 

According to the Department of Health Services, Wisconsin reported 932 deaths by suicide in 2022 with almost 60% of those deaths involving a firearm. 

“If you talk to someone whose loved one died by suicide, many will tell you their loss was not a foregone conclusion. That maybe — just maybe — if the person they loved had just made it through one more dark night to see with certainty that the sun again would rise, things might have ended up differently,” Evers said. “I’m asking this Legislature to give the next family and the next one, and the family after that, hope for that same opportunity.” 

Evers proposed the creation of a “Self-Assigned Firearm Exclusion” (SAFE) Program, which would allow people to temporarily and voluntarily register to prevent themselves from purchasing a firearm. 

Evers also called for lawmakers to reimplement a law that would require a 48-hour waiting period for buying firearms.

“The window for intervention is very short. Being able to purchase and possess a gun in minutes significantly increases the risk of firearm suicide — and firearm homicide, as well,” Evers said. 

Republican lawmakers said they likely wouldn’t take up any of Evers’ proposals related to guns. 

Vos said that there are already some measures in place including background checks and that some money has gone into helping schools protect against shootings. Background checks are required for purchasing a handgun or long gun from a licensed dealer, but aren’t required for private sales or at gun shows.

“Unfortunately, sometimes people do bad things and there’s only so much that we can do to prevent it,” Vos said. 

Vos said that everyone feels “bad for Jonathan Brostoff’s death,” but accused Evers of using it as a “cheap political stunt to try to get a piece of legislation passed.” He said Evers’ response “demeans Jonathan’s death.”

Lower costs for family through supporting child care 

“There are a lot of ways we can lower everyday, out-of-pocket costs to make sure Wisconsinites and working families can afford basic needs,” Evers said. 

Describing child care as “too darn expensive,” he highlighted a bipartisan bill that he signed into law last year that will expand the child care tax credit once it goes into effect this year.

Evers also said he will propose investing $480 million to continue the state’s Child Care Counts program, which has provided funding assistance to eligible child care providers to support operating expenses, investments in program quality, tuition relief for families, staff compensation and professional development. The program was started in March 2020 using federal funds and Evers wants to keep it going with state funds. He also wants to dedicate another $20 million to other programs, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and he wants to use the budget to create the framework for community-based 4K.  

Cautions against forgetting immigration history

Evers cautioned Wisconsinites about forgetting the state’s historical ties to immigrants during his address, appearing critical of President Donald Trump, who was inaugurated on Monday and immediately issued orders sending troop to the U.S.-Mexico border, calling for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and even attempting to end constitutionally protected birthright citizenship. 

“A lot has happened in Washington in the last 72 hours, and I know there is a lot of angst about what may happen in the days, months and years ahead,” Evers said. “I want to talk about what that means for Wisconsin and how we move forward together.” 

“Wisconsin began as a land of many people, of many origins, each important and none any better than any other,” he continued, “and that is still who we are 177 years later. The state of Wisconsin was born of immigrants, but today, there are those who would have us forget this fact.” 

“Let’s agree to be honest about the fact that, in this state, some of our state’s largest — and most important — industries and companies have always welcomed the hard work of immigrants,” Evers said. “Let’s agree to be honest about the fact that the story of our state’s success today is told in the labor of over three million Wisconsinites, including tens of thousands of workers whose only transgression to date was not having the good fortune of being born in this country.” 

Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul have joined a multi-state federal lawsuit that was filed in Massachusetts to challenge the order trying to deny birthright citizenship. 

Republicans, meanwhile, were supportive of Trump’s work, saying that Wisconsinites voted in favor of it when the state voted for Trump in November. 

“[Evers is] clearly pushing back against the president. He’s lashing out because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were not only resoundly rejected by the American people, but by the state of Wisconsin,” August said, adding that Republicans would be ready to lead on the issue of immigration in Wisconsin. 

Vos said that a proposal will be coming from Republicans next week that will require cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ensure that “if someone is here illegally and committed a crime” they are deported. 

Vos said that he is “open” to the idea of repealing birthright citizenship. 

“I certainly think that there’s a legal case to be made. It wasn’t enacted until sometime, I think, around the year 1900, so it’s only been part of our country for about half of our nation’s existence,” Vos said. 

Apart from immigration legislation, Vos said that Republican priorities would include a tax relief proposal, which he says would provide $1,000 to Wisconsinites, and a proposal to ensure “high educational standards” if there is an increase in funding for schools.

Evers will deliver his budget address and announce his full 2025-27 budget proposal on Feb. 18. 

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Legislative Democrats led by Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer introduced a package of bills aimed at helping with the cost of prescription drugs, school meals and housing. Photo by: Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner

Legislative Democrats started to present their vision for helping with high costs in Wisconsin Thursday, announcing bills that aim to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, food for school children and housing for low-income homeowners and renters.

The proposals — bundled together in what the bill authors called the “Lowering Costs, Improving Lives” package — are the first from legislative Democrats this session, who are back with bolstered numbers. With the most recent elections, Assembly Democrats added 10 seats, bringing their caucus to 45 out of 99 members and Senate Democrats gained 4 seats for 15 out of 33 total members. Republicans still hold majorities in both houses.

Freshman Rep. Ryan Spaude (D-Ashwaubenon) said at a press conference that the package of bills is “just the first of many proposals to come that will help Wisconsinites, who are struggling with the cost of living.” 

At a press conference, Spaude introduced the first bill, aimed at alleviating the cost of prescription drugs and increasing price transparency. 

Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison), the lead Assembly author on the bill, told the Wisconsin Examiner that Democrats wanted to come up with “targeted” and “tangible” legislative solutions for addressing costs. 

“Drugs are a thing that hits us all and it doesn’t matter if you’re middle class or even if you’re very economically secure,” Subeck said. “Whether [it’s] an inhaler, whether it’s blood pressure medicine, whether it’s medicine for a complex condition, like psoriatic arthritis, people are on these medications all their life. It’s not just a one-time sudden expense. It is an expense that hits you over and over and over again every month when you fill your prescription.” 

According to a KFF poll, about 28% of Americans who take prescription drugs report difficulty affording their medications. The poll also found that about three in 10 adults report not taking their medicines as prescribed at some point in the past year because of the cost, including 21% who say they have not filled a prescription, 21% who took an over-the counter drug instead and 12% who say they have cut pills in half or skipped a dose because of the cost.

The bill would seek to address the issue through a few avenues. First, the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance would be required to take several actions including creating an Office of Prescription Affordability to administer new initiatives related to consumer assistance and prescription drug and supply chain regulation, studying the viability of creating a state prescription drug purchasing entity and awarding grants to health care providers to develop a tool for prescribers to disclose the cost of prescription drugs for patients. 

It would also authorize Wisconsin’s drug repository program to partner with other states’ programs to allow participating pharmacies in Wisconsin to receive drugs from other states and vice versa. 

The proposal also seeks to make insulin more accessible by prohibiting health insurance policies and governmental self-insured health plans from charging more than $35 for insulin and requiring insulin manufacturers to establish a program to ensure those in urgent need access insulin at a pharmacy. 

Some of the other provisions in the bill include allowing pharmacists to count up to 10 hours of volunteer work at free or charitable clinics toward continuing education requirements, eliminate cost-sharing payments for prescription drugs for BadgerCare enrollees and creating a prescription drug affordability board. 

The policy proposals aren’t new to the Wisconsin Legislature as the ideas came from the recommendations of a 2019 task force organized by Gov. Tony Evers to study reducing prescription drug prices. Subeck sat on the committee alongside other lawmakers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, health care providers and retailers. 

During the task force, Subeck said she heard “the very real and truly heartbreaking stories of individuals who were deciding between buying food and filling their prescription, seniors who were skipping doses.” 

Previous legislation to carry out some of the proposals has failed in the Republican-led Legislature. Subeck noted that a Republican, though he is no longer a member, was a part of the task force, and said she is hopeful her current Republican colleagues will “change their tune” this session to push the proposals forward. 

“I get that there’s philosophical differences on different provisions but at the end of the day, I thought we all wanted to reduce costs. I thought we all wanted that,” Subeck said. 

Reviving Healthy School Meals for All

The second bill — coauthored by Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison) and Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) — would use state money to provide free school meals to all Wisconsin students, including those at public and private schools. 

Sen. Sarah Keyeski (D-Lodi), who introduced the proposal at the press conference, said feeding children is essential for helping them succeed in school and supporting their mental health. 

“An unacceptable number of kids today are facing hunger in our state,” Keyeski said. “No child should be in school with an empty stomach or worrying about where their next meal is coming from.”

Rep. Christian Phelps (D-Eau Claire), who comes to the Legislature with an education advocacy background and some experience working in a public school, echoed this point in an interview with the Examiner. He said he used to notice that students who had behavior and attention span changes during the school day hadn’t had a nutritious meal.

“My personal experience is that there is no shortage of difficulty that kids have, that when you dig into it you then find out that it’s been a while since they had their last meal,” Phelps said. “It’s heartbreaking, but it’s not rare.”

Keyeski also emphasized that the proposal could help families with costs. 

“If this proposal were implemented — and I sure hope it is — a Wisconsin family could save approximately $154 per month per child. That’s $1,848 annually,” Keyeski said. “With this bill, we have an opportunity to help students thrive and lower costs for working families at a time when every dollar counts.”

The amounts noted by Keyeski were calculated using the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Paid Lunch Equity Tool. According to the tool, an average school meal for the 2024-25 school year costs $3.85, and if a family were purchasing two meals a day for 20 days, the cost would be about $154 per month per child.

President of the School Nutrition Association of Wisconsin and mother of two Kaitlin Tauriainen said the savings would allow her to put more money back into her community. 

Beyond the economic impact, however, Tauriainen said universal free school meals would help level the playing field for students. She said even with current programs there are students who may need the help, but don’t qualify or who qualify but don’t eat the meals due to the stigma that can be attached. 

“We have kids who qualify for free meals who aren’t taking them because they’re afraid someone will figure out they’re low-income. We focus deeply on the mental health of our students, but then put them in a position where they’d rather skip a much needed meal than risk the off chance that a peer might find out that they’re low income, [and] share it on social media,” Tauriainen said. 

Expand Homestead Tax Credit 

Democrats’ final proposal aims to provide tax relief through expanding the homestead tax credit, which supports low-income homeowners and renters.

Currently, the homestead tax credit is available to households making less than $24,680, including low-income workers, people over age 62 and people with disabilities. The maximum credit currently allowed is $1,168.

Democrats want to raise the maximum qualifying income to $35,000 starting in the 2025 tax year, and index the income limit and other factors used to determine the credit amount to keep pace with inflation.

“It is especially critical for seniors who are living on a fixed income, who often do not have the resources to keep up with rising costs. Inflation has increased over the last several years. This tax credit has failed to keep up. Our bill would expand the Homestead Tax Credit to support Wisconsinites who are struggling with the cost of housing,” Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) said. 

Subeck said the three proposals span issues that hit every Wisconsinite.

“It doesn’t matter where in the state you live — where you fall on the economic spectrum. It doesn’t matter whether you’re old or young, all of us are impacted by prescription drug costs. All of us are impacted by housing costs and all of us are impacted by food costs,” Subeck said.

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School nutrition advocates say universal free meals could help improve the diets as well as the academic performance of more students. (Getty Images)

Wisconsin School Nutrition Association President Kaitlin Tauriainen says her goal has always been to feed every student.

“It seemed impossible for years, and then COVID happened,” said Tauriainen, who has worked in school nutrition for about 14 years and is also part of the Wisconsin Healthy School Meals For All Coalition. During the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture implemented waivers that allowed schools across the country to serve free meals to all children. “Basically, we were forced into doing it, which was fantastic, and really proved that we were capable and that it was better — like we thought it was going to be.” 

Tauriainen, who works as the child nutrition coordinator for the Ashwaubenon School District in Brown County, said there were less behavioral issues for the district then. She had observed earlier in her career at another school district how improved behavior could be the result of ensuring kids have access to food. She recalled a student who was eating free breakfast and free lunch, but still reported being hungry. Attending a different school that gave him more flexible access to food helped improve his situation, she said.

“He was so hungry all the time that he was just angry and causing disruptions. When they moved him to the charter school that gave him a little more flexibility and freedom to go make himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich whenever he was hungry, he turned into a completely different kid,” Tauriainen said. “That’s what some of the teachers were seeing during COVID as well.”

The federal universal school meals program expired in June 2022 after Congress decided not to extend it. Ashwaubenon School District now charges students who don’t qualify under current guidelines for lunches, but it is able to provide breakfast to all students.

Limiting behavioral problems is just one potential benefit of adopting universal school meals that Tauriainen and other advocates detailed to the Examiner. Other benefits include filling in gaps for students who may need the meals but don’t — or can’t — participate. Advocates say universal meals would level the playing field for students and ensure everyone has access to nutritious meals. 

Last month, Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly visited Kenosha Unified School District to propose that Wisconsin join the eight states that provide school meals to all students.

Under her proposal, Wisconsin would dedicate an additional $290 million per biennium so students, regardless of their families’ income, are eligible for free breakfast and lunch. Her proposal includes an additional $21 million to support other aspects of school nutrition. Those include funding to expand participation in the school breakfast program to independent charter schools, residential schools and residential childcare centers; creating a program to encourage school districts to buy directly from local farmers and producers; and funding for programs to support access to milk.

“Access to food is one of the most basic human needs, and yet many Wisconsin kids are telling us they don’t know when — or if — they will have their next meal,” Underly said in a statement. “When we make sure all our kids are properly nourished, we are nurturing the leaders of tomorrow.”

Hunger and grades

Across Wisconsin, 45.4% of enrolled public schools students — or 782,090 students — participate in the USDA Child Nutrition Programs and 52.1% of enrolled students at private schools participating in the USDA Child Nutrition Programs, according to the state Department of Public Instruction.

The current guidelines outline that students in a household of four, with income of $40,560 per year or less, qualify for free school meals. If a household’s yearly income is between $40,560.01 and $57,720, children can receive reduced-price meals. Families are also required to fill out an application annually in order to receive the benefit.

According to the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, one in four Wisconsin students reported experiencing hunger due to lack of food in the home and 2.6% reported going hungry “most of the time” or “always.” Students with low grades of D’s or F’s also reported going hungry at a higher rate — 10.3% of students — when compared their peers with higher grades of A’s or B’s — 2.3% of students.

Universal school meals would help fill in the gaps that the current system allows for, advocates said. 

Kenosha Unified School District currently provides school meals to all kids free of charge.

“When we had to return to our traditional system of serving meals in the 2022-23 school year, we heard from families that they missed the simplicity and security of free meals for all,” KUSD Chief Communications Officer Tanya Ruder wrote in an email responding to questions from the Examiner.

This year every school in the district is able to provide lunch and breakfast to all students through the federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). The policy allows some high-poverty schools and districts to provide school meals to all students regardless of income and without having to fill out an application.

When meals were not universally free, the Kenosha district’s breakfast participation was 23.9%, and lunch participation was 43.8%, Ruder said. Since moving to CEP, those numbers have risen significantly, with breakfast participation now at 29%, and lunch at 55%.

Some families who qualified under the current system may find the application process an obstacle. “The application process is very daunting for some families,” Tauriainen said. “It’s a very simple form to fill out, but it’s just another thing that families have to do to get food to their kids when they might already be struggling.” 

Higher incomes, but still hungry

The income requirements also mean that some families that may be struggling financially may not qualify, Tauriainen said, because the application doesn’t consider other circumstances that families may be dealing with.

 “It doesn’t take into account anything other than your gross wages, so whatever your income is before taxes, doesn’t take into account any medical bills you may have, or other issues that you might have going on financially at home,” Tauriainen said.

Jennifer Gaddis, an associate professor at UW-Madison who researches food systems in schools, said a gap still exists for some students. “There are actually a lot of children and families, who are food-insecure, but who don’t actually meet the federal threshold for eligibility for free or reduced school meals,” Gaddis said. 

Gaddis and Tauriainen said providing school meals for free would benefit students in many ways.

“School meals are literally the only thing that is economically means tested,” Gaddis said. “Everything else kids participate in, regardless of their household income status — like math class, English class, busing — they’re not being charged a different amount or getting a different service necessarily that is tied to their household income status.” 

Providing meals to all students would reduce the stigma that the current system can create, she added. 

School meal debt has also become an issue again as schools have gone back to requiring students to pay for lunch unless they qualify for free food. In Wausau, a pastor recently raised $26,000 to help pay off students’ unpaid meal debts. Madison Metropolitan School District in May reported that school lunch debt in the district stood at almost $230,000.

Ruder of Kenosha Unified said that providing meals free to all students would prevent them from being denied lunch or breakfast when their account funds run out.

Nutritional and academic benefits

Universal school meals could also allow many students to eat more nutritious food since school meals follow the federal dietary guidelines. Some studies have found that participation in school meals has been linked to healthier diets. 

“We get a bad rap, because people think of what school lunch used to be like back when they were in school, and things have changed so much since 2010,” Tauriainen said. “We’re offering whole grains, fruits and vegetables, multiple options every day, so that students pick something that they like to eat — low fat, low sodium, low sugar entrees.” 

Tauriainen also noted that many school districts are trying to serve more food prepared from scratch and use more locally sourced foods for meals. Some school districts in the state serve food grown by the students, including Ashwaubenon School District, which has a 34-unit hydrophobic garden to grow lettuce.

Ensuring that kids are fed helps create a foundation for students to focus, study and be present in the classroom, producing stronger academic outcomes as well, Gaddis said. 

Gaddis takes a historical and international comparative approach to studying school nutrition. Other countries with universal school meal programs, including Japan and Finland, have integrated school nutrition and home economics, she said, so students are “learning about, not only how to think about food and nutrition, but how to prepare things for yourself and how to do so in an economical way, and why you should also have respect for the people who are doing work in the food system.”

It’s an approach that addresses all students.

“It’s not seen as this anti-poverty program in those countries, it’s seen as a really integral part of the school day and an opportunity for people to learn really important life skills,” Gaddis said.

The Wisconsin proposal is part of Underly’s larger budget request, which would invest an additional $4 billion in schools. 

It could face a tough road to becoming a reality given Wisconsin’s split government, where Republican lawmakers, who remain in the majority in the Legislature, have said they oppose growing “the size of government” and want to use most of the state’s budget surplus to cut taxes. 

Tauriainen said she hopes universal school meals can gather bipartisan support, however. 

“Being hungry shouldn’t be something that’s on one side or the other of the aisle,” Tauriainen said. “I really hope that the Legislature can come together and realize that this is something we really need to do for our kids.”

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